Academies

Last updated September 2018

Introduction

YOU WILL FIND A FULL LIST OF ACADEMIES IN KENT AND MEDWAY LATER IN THIS ARTICLE.

When I started this page seven years ago, it was a simple matter of record. As you read it, you will become aware it is now a very complicated set of data and I am only too happy to correct any errors or omissions that may have crept in.

Government policy has now backed away from forcing all schools to become academies, whilst still putting considerable pressure on underperforming school to change status. A BBC article from October 2016 explains the current situation well.

The concept of an academy becomes increasingly complicated and below I have attempted a simplistic definition only. For an excellent legal understanding go to the ‘Can of Worms’ website, where an analysis is provided by the Education Law Journal. Of particular interest is the learned comment at the foot of the article by Sir Peter Newsam, first Chief Schools Adjudicator. One quote:“it needs to be recognised that the contract system (the current academy model), as a way of running thousands of individual institutions, is expensive, inefficient and dangerous. The expense and inefficiency are becoming obvious. The danger lies in the power contracts give to an individual government minister. Annual funding, much of it discretionary, by an individual, on which a school is wholly dependent, is precisely what the 1944 Act was so careful to prevent. An academy is a government school, defined as a school created by a government minister, wholly dependent on funding approved by that minister and subject to a terminable contract with that minister”.

You will find KCC's views on Academies and Free Schools set out in their Evidence to the Select Committee Enquiry into Academies and Free Schools back in 2014. I published an article describing what is quite an outspoken document.

An academy is a school directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of direct control by local government in England. However local government Councils are responsible for the funding formulae used to allocate funds among sections of education within an authority. An Academy may receive additional support from personal or corporate sponsors, either financially or in kind, but must meet the same National Curriculum core subject requirements as other state schools and be subject to inspection by Ofsted.Academies are self-governing and most are constituted as registered charities or operated by other educational charities.Government policy is to encourage all schools to become academies. Those regarded as the stronger can choose how they are governed (see below); those that are perceived to be underperforming or have failed an OFSTED Inspection come under considerable government pressure to become sponsored academies taken over by stronger schools or by one of the many flourishing Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs). They lease their premises from government and set their own terms and conditions for teachers (Headteachers generally attracting considerably higher salaries than for other schools). This is allowing academies to attract teachers away from other schools whose needs may be greater. You will find the Department for Education's rationale for academies here, along with more details of operation.

Government has also blocked Local Authorities from setting up new schools, and these now have to be academies, Free Schools, or Voluntary Aided Schools (I can't see the logic for these last in converting, where a Foundation or Trust contributes to building costs and has some influence on the running of the school). In the case of new academies and Free Schools, government provides the building costs and the sponsors run the school. A major expansion of provision in primary schools is needed in parts of both Kent and Medway, so the academy and Free School sectors will both naturally expand. You will find a parallel information article on Kent and Medway's Free Schools here.

In Kent and Medway, academies are generally independent of the local authorities in most respects, although a few are directly sponsored by the Authorities (as far as I can see this just means they appoint a governor who does not necessarily report back, and have no other control). However, they all required to obey the same Admissions Code and are members of the Kent or Medway coordinated admissions scheme for all schools. As the two Local Authorities diversify into an increasingly splintered education provision under the academy programme, there are now many types of local model, as explained below.

Currently three quarters of Kent secondary schools, academies and free schools (74/101) are either academies or free schools, with another five having made application (although several are held up because of PFI issues), a total of 79%. There are over a third of all Kent primaries (161 /456), another 17 officially in progress, a total of 39%. In Medway 94% (16/17) of Medway's secondaries are academies and 52/79 of the primaries, along with two more in progress, 66% in all. There is one academy Special School in Kent out of 21, and four out of five in Medway. Academies exist in either Stand Alone Trusts (SAT) or Multi Academy Trusts (MAT). There are currently 61 Kent academies in SATs and 169 in MATs, of which 30 are in small units of two schools only, and 46 in MATS with 10 or more academies in Kent.

The distinction between academies and Free Schools is becoming increasingly blurred, but you will find a list of distinct Free Schools here.

An organisation that is highly critical of the academy programme, but whose website is very informative on aspects of it, is the Anti-Academies Alliance.

I have now heard anecdotal evidence of several schools which signed up to be sponsored or converter academies, in Multi-Academy Trusts, where the agreed level of top-slicing of the academy budget to pay for Trust costs is greatly increased soon after the conversion takes place.

Old Style Academies

First up are the “old style” secondary academies. The rationale for these was originally based on replacing failing schools in socially deprived urban areas, although this definition became stretched as government sought to increase the number with,, for example, the Knole Academy in Sevenoaks not qualifying on any of the three counts. The earliest academies have either been completely rebuilt or had plans approved to secure a rebuild on a very generous budget of the order of £30 million each, Isle of Sheppey Academy doing best with premises at a cost of £54 million. Those approved later have still been generously treated usually benefiting from a major rebuild, usually of £15 million or more. Most of these academies have main sponsors who have been given control of the institution for a donation of the order of £2 million, waived in the case of charities or churches.

You will find a list of Multi-Academy Trusts here, Old Style Academies generally being sponsored by one of these.

Newer academies fall into two types: 'sponsored' and 'converter'. Both types of academy are able to bid for capital developments in competition with other schools under two categories: where numbers of children are expanding in the area; and where the school buildings are identified as in need of improvement. In neither case is it yet clear by what criteria these funds are awarded. In my opinion certain academies attracted undue priority for their bids in the most recent capital allocations I have analysed. Many academies are expanding fast, including grammar schools.

Sponsored Academies

The first type are the Sponsored Academies, who are taken over by more successful schools, academy chains or other organisations. Increasingly, they are new schools. Not all are underperforming and some have chosen to take up this arrangement. Currently government is putting pressure on Local Authorities and school governing bodies in an attempt (almost wholly successful but often controversial) to force underperforming schools. into academy partnerships. There is no public consultation for these conversions and it is not until the decision is announced that one can be sure this is happening. Often there is great secrecy about the process.

There is no pattern for these schools, but I have attempted to identify the Multi Academy Trusts that operate in Kent and Medway with information about them and their other academies elsewhere in the country. I provide a summary list of the sponsored academies below, cross check with the Multi Academy Trust groups page to find the sponsor.

For me, the major concerns are the two tier financial structure being created and a lack of accountability. The threat to a failing school was that it would be closed and turned into an academy. What happens to a failing academy (they do exist and numbers will inevitably increase)? Against this, there is no doubt that academies are raising the status of schools, and some are notable successes. The myth of higher standards can be seen from research quoted by the admittedly partisan Anti-Academies Alliance. Sadly this does not appear to create as many headlines as the vast pro-academy public relations exercise mounted by government amongst others.

The concern over lack of accountability sees parents unhappy with provision finding it very difficult or impossible to get satisfaction, for the local authority does not have responsibility for the internal running of Academies, and Department of Education processes can often appear impenetrable. The Local Government Ombudsman has no role in complaints about academies or appeals for admission or permanent exclusion, as they do not come under the aegis of local authorities. For complaints about academy admission appeals see my website article here. The correct route for complaints about academies, is via the DofE. You will find the procedure here. Oddly, the DfE website recommends a private charity, Coram Children's Legal Centre for legal advice about such matters. I have no information about this charity other than what is on their website.

Parents who send their children to academies need to understand the issues, although for most it may well be the best or only option available, and a very positive experience.